Created through the merger of London Guildhall University and the University of North London in 2001 London Metropolitan University, with over 37,000 students including 700 international students from 155 different countries, offers the largest choice of courses in London.
The Sir John Cass Department of Art, Media and Design
Located in the City Campus of the University, the Sir John Cass Department of Art, Media and Design, ‘The Cass’, has a long history in the provision of art, media and design education. The present day Department, itself the result of a merger in 1990 between the Sir John Cass Faculty of Arts and the London College of Furniture, has over 2,500 students studying on more than 70 courses.
It has a long established reputation in design and production in the creative industries, most notably in silversmithing and jewellery and furniture, and is fast establishing similar links in the communications industry.
The Department’s size, diversity and international reputation, together with its focus on the practical application of creativity, has established it as a centre of excellence for the education of artists, designers and practitioners. It contributes to the vibrant local creative community through exhibitions of international standing in its Unit 2 Gallery opposite the Whitechapel Art Gallery, and in the Metropolitan Works Showroom.
Most teaching staff are creative practitioners as well as academics, supported by a large number of high profile consultants, artists, designers and manufacturers to help extend research and prepare students for the realities of the external creative working environment.
Furniture Works
Situated in the City Fringe and East End of London, an area with the largest concentration of artists and designers in Europe, the Department has developed as a unique centre for innovation and knowledge transfer for the creative industries through the development of an enterprise culture. Furniture Works, an early enterprise initiative to bring designers and manufacturers together in innovative projects, was used in the Cox Review on Creativity in Business in 2005 as an exemplar of good practice.
Metropolitan Works Creative Industries Centre
This experience has supported the expansion of the Department’s ability to connect a wider range of business clusters to research and the transfer of knowledge and skills through the establishment of Metropolitan Works Creative Industries Centre.
This unique new centre helps creative researchers, practitioners and businesses maximise their potential to add value to their products, and to promote London as a global centre of design innovation.
Exchange
Incorporated in this ground-breaking centre is Exchange, London’s only Creative Knowledge Exchange. It was created in 2004 through a collaborative partnership with the University of the Arts, London, the Royal College of Art and Goldsmiths College, to bring together leading specialist UK universities to support the development of London’s creative industries and businesses of all sectors.
